Mark II-in-a-box

[zebpedersen]

Okay, so it's the umpteenth 'What pedal sounds like a Mark II?' thread, but this one has a bit of a twist (I promise).

I got the BB Preamp a couple of months ago, and it's total magic - in front of the drive channel on my Mark IIB on a mid gain setting, it unlocks a lead sound that's totally Boogie, but with a smoothness on the top and clarity on the bottom that is just perfect.

…I've also been playing it with my SF Princeton, and that's turning out to be a killer combination, with Fender clean (obviously) and a sweet crunch. Best of all, the 12W Princeton delivers the goods at low volume.

What I'm after is a pedal that gets that slightly darker mid-gain Mark II sound that goes so great with the BB, that I can stick in the Princeton rig and enjoy at lower volumes, adding a lead sound to the existing rig.

Any suggestions?

 

[Neptical]

A good friend of mine just picked up a Joyo California Sound(IIRC--cloned off the Tech 21 something? forget the model) that is based off the Mark IIB. He's lovin' it. Says it really does have that classic Mark sound and sustain for days....all for $50. I've yet to hear it in person, but sounds tempting for *****-n-giggles.

 

[mark2boogie]

I have DIY made my Boogie MKIIA in a box :

The black one "ATOMISOR" is intended to give that smooth and sustained Santana kind-of-sound on a SF FENDER TR, DR, PR and even on a MUSTANG III (on the basic deluxe preset N°92) like you would hear it in "Dance Sister Dance", "I love you too much"... Even if it is not of course as good as my Boogie MKIIA, the result is a fairly decent imitation of it.

A+!

 

[TiPiMods]

Wow! if this pedals sound as great as they look....
Killer. Are they solid state or with tubes?

 

[mark2boogie]

Wow! if this pedals sound as great as they look....
Killer. Are they solid state or with tubes?

The white one is 60's Ge fuzz, with extra-treble/bass-cut footswitch.
The black one is a Si "MKIIA/Santana-tone-imitation" overdrive, with 2 gain selection footswitch.
Both are Solid-State, indeed...

A good friend of mine just picked up a Joyo California Sound(IIRC--cloned off the Tech 21 something? forget the model) that is based off the Mark IIB. He's lovin' it. Says it really does have that classic Mark sound and sustain for days....all for $50. I've yet to hear it in person, but sounds tempting for sh!t-n-giggles.

Well, I am tempted to buy one too, because it's cheap and seems interesting, but if it has the sound of a Tech21 pedal, it's useless for me... I had the SansAmp 1 (now called the Classic) and the GT-2, and I quickly discarded them because it doesn't have that miraculous "fleet of all the best vintage amps in a box" versatility it claims to have (I have enough of them at home to attest it, and I service / repair many of them regularly).

I found that these pedals have more or less only one sound, maybe the so-called "California Sound" despite their numerous switches and pots, and I do not favor this aggressive tone... Needless to say that it can't compare to the smoothness and sustain of my MKIIA, but certainly to more modern MESA products (MKIIC+, Calibers, Rectifiers...) or other brands like ENGL (Screamers), etc... That's the "All-Around Hi-Gain Sound" I never use !

But maybe the JOYO would be able to dial-in other tones ? Unfortunately, I did not found convincing videos about that... Only the price is convincing !

A+!

 

[SonicProvocateur]

mark2boogie, your craftsmanship is unparalleled!

 

[mark2boogie]

mark2boogie, your craftsmanship is unparalleled!

HaHaHa :lol: ! Yes ! Thanks indeed... But I just suggest you to have a look to :

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smffor...D=5dce987580f414f4ed758662d21811b9&board=40.0

And look into these 2 topics :

Pictures!
Show off your "Pro" and "Exceptional" builds!!!

Then you will see much more amazing DIY stompbox job than mine... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

A+!

 

[TiPiMods]

BTW: There is another thread about this topic: http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=57892&start=30


I posted some time ago:
"There is a german pedal maker: OKKO, which makes great pedals. The Okko Diablo is one of my favourites, together with the old Marshall Bluesbreaker it was in every pedalboard of mine over the last 5 years. But it's gain is too low for coming into Boogie territory.
Lately I bought the "Dominator" which is more of a high gain device. And it has treble, middle and bass knobs to tweak. Plus there are 3 settings for the middle, which makes it very versatile, because you can push the middle frequencies up into Boogie Mk sounds or cut them for Rectifier tones.
Comes close in my opinion."

the JOYO is a digital device (made in China) which I am always quite skeptical, cause usually they screw up your tone. There are some youtube videos, but only with high gain, so there is no way to find out about touch sensitivity and dynamic.

 

[mark2boogie]

the JOYO is a digital device

TiPiMods : are you sure ? So it would be then a "modelling" effect ? I didn't had this idea in mind, but why not... So it could be better than a SansAmp !

I'll have a look to the OKKO products - thanks for the info - Diablo and Dominator models - OK.

In the past, I had the Marshall BluesBreaker Pedal 1st serie (black and blue sheet metal box, 3 knobs) but I surprisingly felt that it was not very good sounding : there was always something sounding "harsh" in the background that I disliked (at least with my playing and Gibson ES-335, Fender Twin-Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, Princeton Reverb, combined or not), despite the fact that it has become a very regarded pedal now...

For the blues and low gain, expressive and natural overdrive, the best that I found since long ago is the DOD Overdrive Preamp 250 RI version (yellow box, reissued in the early 90's), with all settings at 12:00... I had TS-9 and 808, T-REX Alberta (TS clone), and I still have my DIY TS "upgraded" clone : none of them could/can compete about what you justly call "touch sensitivity and dynamic".

I can use the 250 on all my amps and guitars with equal and unrivalled success for bluesy playing, even with my MKIIA. It's also a good booster to use with my SF Fenders set at high "clean limit" volumes. I have 2 DOD 250 and even built a clone...

A+!

 

[TiPiMods]

TiPiMods : are you sure ? So it would be then a "modelling" effect ? I didn't had this idea in mind, but why not... So it could be better than a SansAmp !

maybe I'm wrong, I remember reading something like that on a forum some time ago. But anyway I dont like this chinese copy stuff. they steal ideas from others and make them so cheap, everyone says: ok, lets give a try. That's how they sell their stuff (my 2 cents)

In the past, I had the Marshall BluesBreaker Pedal 1st serie (black and blue sheet metal box, 3 knobs) but I surprisingly felt that it was not very good sounding : there was always something sounding "harsh" in the background that I disliked (at least with my playing and Gibson ES-335, Fender Twin-Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, Princeton Reverb, combined or not), despite the fact that it has become a very regarded pedal now...

its allways up to your taste and how you like to sound. I love this pedals. they are not the most dynamic, especially when you crank them. (If you want a REAL dynamic pedal, check out the Lovepedal COT, this pedal is frightening! I kills you when you dont play accurate :wink: ) The OKKOs are also more dynamic and sensitive.
But I like the overal sound and this kind of compression, which allways reminds me of David Gilmour strat sounds. A common problem with bluesbreakers is the footswitch: I have 4 pedals now and two of them have broken switches and I cant find the right ones which fit properly

For the blues and low gain, expressive and natural overdrive, the best that I found since long ago is the DOD Overdrive Preamp 250 RI version (yellow box, reissued in the early 90's)

DOD pedals are always great, I have to try one of these 250

 

[mark2boogie]

A common problem with bluesbreakers is the footswitch: I have 4 pedals now and two of them have broken switches and I cant find the right ones which fit properly

I am pretty sure that these compact footswitches are from the ALPHA brand.

Have a look at banzaieffects or musikding (germany) : I remember that I bought several of them from their website, and they probably have the convenient model for the BluesBreaker 1st serie pedal, or something very close...

A+!

 

[TiPiMods]

Thanks a lot. I found some switches that may fit, just have to verify if the pin distances are correct.

 

[TiPiMods]

Just got a DOD 250 original I found on evilbay...
great stuff, thanks for introducing it to me, mark2boogie!
indeed very touch sensitive with some slight flavour of a fuzz (which I always love especially with a strat). Also sounds very good to push the MKII leads a bit more with my stratocasters.

 

[Rick Mark2A]

Long ago i used an original one of these to drive a Sound City 120R. Great pedal for use with an amp that just doesn't want to distort on its own. I would imagine its pretty good with a fender twin type amp also.

 

[mark2boogie]

Just got a DOD 250 original I found on evilbay...
great stuff, thanks for introducing it to me, mark2boogie!
indeed very touch sensitive with some slight flavour of a fuzz (which I always love especially with a strat). Also sounds very good to push the MKII leads a bit more with my stratocasters.

Good TiPiMods ! You won't regret it, I'm sure... This pedal is way underrated versus the Tube Screamer, but I personnally find the DOD250 way superior, as it doesn't "format" the sound of your instrument. It sounds very good on my MKIIA, but I don't use it because my MKIIA has increased gain compared to the stock MKIIA. I should say : the DOD will sound very good on any simply correct amp ! And it is so simple to use...

If yours is an Original with the 741, it has a bit more "fuzz" and "attack" than the RIs that I own; the difference coming from a damping resistor between the out of the IC and the diodes, which is 100K on RI and 10K on Original, thus letting the diodes clip the signal more abrupty. More Rock for the Original, more Blues for the RI...

Long ago i used an original one of these to drive a Sound City 120R. Great pedal for use with an amp that just doesn't want to distort on its own. I would imagine its pretty good with a fender twin type amp also.

Exactly, Rick - this is the pedal I use with my Deluxe Reverb and Twin-Reverb for Blues and Rhythm'n'Blues leads... The perfect choice for me...

But I dicovered that my MKIIA was really able to dial-in excellent Blues settings, à la Matt Murphy or BB King, without the help of the DOD250. I Hope that my awaiting delivery MKIIB will be able to do the same, with its Bendinelli FX Loop Mod.

Another pedal, even simpler to use than the DOD250, and really cheap but also really worth to try, is the MUFF Overdrive Nano EH, derived from the 1969 EH MUFF-FUZZ :

A+!

 

[mark2boogie]

Hello All,

Recently I should mention this one as a good "MKIIA in-a-box" example :

It can offer the lead and lead-plus-boost channel, and the sound, tone, playing sensivity and sustain are very close to my IIA when used on a SF PR, DR, TR, SR Fender, and even acceptable on a Fender Mustang III amp...

A+!

 

[TiPiMods]

That's why they call it A(C)+ :wink:
looks good, I have to try it. I only know the AC Booster, which sounds great.

 

[HBob]

The best Boogie in a box pedal I have is the 6 large knob MI Audio Tube Zone. There is also an internal trimmer for presence. Really a great pedal that can do everything from perfectly transparent clean boost to high gain. It also can cut gain and volume like the HBE Detox pedal without messing up your tone. It also sounds good with a booster hitting it.